Top 10 Best SpongeBob SquarePants Seasons

The Top Ten
1 Season 2

This is by far my favorite season! All of the episodes are well written and hilarious. Highlights include Dying for Pie, Gary Takes a Bath, Bubble Buddy, Survival of the Idiots, Grandma's Kisses, Band Geeks, and just about every episode aired. The only seasons I feel that come very close to comparing to this are Seasons 3 and 1.

If you haven't watched a single episode, then you must be crazy, because this is Nickelodeon at the height of their "golden age," along with one of the closing chapters of the cartoon renaissance of the 90s and early 00s.

2 Season 3

Season 3 was phenomenal. I mean that literally. Everyone says they prefer Season 2 over Season 3. I can understand why people think that, but Season 3 had more creative episodes. It had funnier and better episodes. This is just my opinion.

Yes, in the second season we got Band Geeks, Sailor Mouth, Frankendoodle, Graveyard Shift, Shanghaied, and Christmas Who? I feel like those episodes I just listed were the best of the best of the second season.

Think about Season 3. It had fantastic episodes: The Camping Episode, Chocolate with Nuts, Just One Bite, Club SpongeBob, Nasty Patty, Idiot Box, Snowball Effect, No Weenies Allowed, Wet Painters, and the Krusty Krab Training Video. And so much more. Season 3 was definitely the most nostalgic for me. It was so good. For me, it was the best pre-movie season.

But if you look at the criteria and creative, laughable, entertaining episodes, Season 3 would be all that. I love all seasons except Season 5-7. It's hard to pick between Season 2 and Season 3 at some points. They're both my favorite seasons. Nothing can beat Seasons 1-3.

3 Season 1

This season was my favorite. Back when Stephen Hillenburg was still on the show and back when the comedy was hilarious. I'm still laughing at some of the jokes many years later. Plus, the episodes were more creative and well thought out. I also like the old school animation and voice acting feel of season 1.

Season 2 is practically the same, and season 3 is when they started improving the animation more. But this season will always remain in my heart as my favorite season from any cartoon. I miss my childhood. Half of it was watching this show.

4 Season 4

Very underrated. The only bad episodes are All That Glitters and Squidwood, but all the other episodes are great (especially Fear of a Krabby Patty and Krusty Towers). I think people need to remember that Seasons 1-3 aren't the only good seasons in the show.

This season was great. Season 5 was okay. Season 6 was meh (only Sand Castles in the Sand, Toy Store of Doom, Krabby Road, A Life in a Day, Single Cell Anniversary, House Fancy (minus the toenail scene), Gone, Chum Bucket Supreme, Patty Caper, and The Krabby Kronicle were good). Season 7 was bad (except for SpongeBob's Last Stand, Back to the Past, The Bad Guy Club for Villains, Gary in Love, Grandma's Secret Recipe, The Great Patty Caper, and Karate Star). Season 8 was also great. Seasons 9 and 10 were good. New SpongeBob is awful.

Seasons 1-3 may be the best, but there are still great SpongeBob seasons! Here's my top 5 favorite seasons:

1. Season 3
2. Season 2
3. Season 1
4. Season 4
5. Season 8

5 Season 9

I would vote for Seasons 1-3 and early Season 4 any day over this, but I think Nickelodeon has taken the right steps to bringing SpongeBob back. The first episodes were horrible, like Squid Baby and Little Yellow Book, but the newer ones from 2015 and 2016 were better with the addition of more Plankton-themed episodes and more minor character importance (like the episodes Mall Girl Pearl and Larry's Gym). The new episodes have some originality and are starting to appeal to kids and teens/adult fans again.

It's not making suicide jokes (like Are You Happy Now?) or filling episodes with unnecessary content to take up time like in Seasons 6-7. The episodes have plots again, and the quality of animation has even increased. So now, my favorite seasons are 1, 2, 3, part of 4, 9, and 10, since the two episodes that Season 10 had so far (Whirly Brains, MermaidPants) were also pretty good. If Nickelodeon keeps these types of episodes coming, it will please everyone.

6 Season 5

This season was pretty good! Yeah, it wasn't perfect, but still pretty good. The best episodes in this season were BlackJack, Friend or Foe, The Original Frycook, Spy Buddies, Roller Cowards, Krabs à la Mode, 20,000 Patties Under the Sea, Sing a Song of Patrick, Inmates of Summer, Pest of the West, The Two Faces of Squidward, and The Battle of Bikini Bottom.

Bad episodes were SpongeHenge, Waiting, Night Light, Fungus Among Us, Banned in Bikini Bottom, Breath of a Fresh Squidward, and To Love a Patty. The rest of the episodes were in the middle. Overall, though, I'd give this season an 8/10 (Seasons 1-3 are 10/10, Seasons 4 and 8 are 9/10, Seasons 6, 10, and 9 are 7/10, Season 7 is a 5/10, and all the new seasons are 1/10).

7 Season 8

After the horrible Season 7, I thought that SpongeBob would forever be bad... But then this season came out, and it was GREAT. The best episodes this season are A Friendly Game, Sentimental Sponge, Frozen Face-Off, Sweet and Sour Squid, The Googly Artiste, A SquarePants Family Vacation, Ghoul Fools, Mermaid Man Begins, The Way of the Sponge, It's a SpongeBob Christmas, Super Evil Aquatic Villain Team Up is Go, and Hello Bikini Bottom.

All the other episodes are still good (except for Demolition Doofus, Face Freeze, Barnacle Face, Pet Sitter Pat, and Oral Report, which are all bad episodes).

8 Season 6

This season isn't as bad as people think. Sure, it had bad episodes, such as "Clash of Triton," "Cephalopod Lodge," "Choir Boys," "Giant Squidward," "Sun Bleached," "The Splinter," "Slide Whistle Stooges," "Gullible Pants," and "Squid's Visit." But it did have good episodes!

The good episodes were "Sand Castles in the Sand," "Toy Store of Doom," "Krabby Road," "A Life in a Day," "Single Cell Anniversary," "House Fancy" (minus the toenail scene), "Gone," "Chum Bucket Supreme," "Patty Caper," and "The Krabby Kronicle." All the other episodes in this season are just "meh" to me.

9 Season 10

So far, this season is actually not half bad. It's only had one episode I didn't like: "Snooze You Lose," due to just how weird and freaky it is, but even then I'd still just consider it a "meh" episode. We've already gotten really good episodes compared to other modern SpongeBob seasons like "Plankton Retires," "Burst Your Bubble," "Life Insurance," and "Mermaid Pants." These four episodes are all very good, especially compared to other modern seasons.

Many of the infamously bad writers are gone (Zeus Cervas, Casey Alexander), while Stephen Hillenburg is back as the supervising producer. They also hired some writers from "Ren & Stimpy," and you can definitely tell from episodes like "Whirly Brains" and "Snooze You Lose." Another thing that probably came with Stephen coming back is that it seems to kind of have a feel of Season 3, and many old recognizable characters (Bubble Bass, the fish who scammed SpongeBob & Patrick in the chocolate episode, etc.) can be seen as background fish in almost every episode, which is neat.

It also feels more cartoony and fast-paced, but that's honestly a good thing because it's a cartoon. This season definitely fixed problems from previous seasons, although they still do a lot of the overly detailed face gags. I also find the jokes a lot funnier than in previous seasons.

Overall, I'd say that so far Season 10 is a pretty good improvement and is at least better than Season 5. This is probably the fifth best season, and it could get better or worse. I'd rate it a 7/10 (S5 being a 6, S4 being an 8, and S1-3 being a 10).

10 Season 11

I really like how they're bringing back older characters like Bubble Bass, Doodlebob, and Long, Tan, and Handsome (Pearl's ex-boyfriend). I also like the vibe of this season. The animation isn't nearly as stiff as in seasons before the second movie, and the plots of the episodes are very creative. Plus, SpongeBob doesn't have that annoying high pitched voice anymore. It's gradually reverting to the way it was in Season 2. This should be at number 4 at least, behind seasons 1, 3, and 2.

I enjoyed Spot Returns! It's basically Pet or Pests done right. The Check-Up was a meh episode for me, though. Spin the Bottle was good and at least something unique to the Plankton steals the Krabby Patty formula episodes.

I also can't wait for The Legend of Boo-Kini Bottom stop-motion episode and Man Ray Returns (the sequel to Mermaid Pants). I think Season 11 will be as good as Seasons 9B-10, if not better.

The Contenders
11 Season 7

Everyone's saying, Why is it here? But it kind of has to be. Don't get me wrong, this season isn't great, but it is in last place. It's here because it is a season of SpongeBob!

Like Season 7, mostly awful, with a couple of shining gems. Unfortunately, this season probably has the least amount of really good episodes.

If you watched the episode "I'm Dancing," you know what I'm talking about.

12 Season 12

This season can be ranked among the best SpongeBob seasons ever! I also heard they got the original writer back.

This season really plays a part in the improvement of SpongeBob. Why isn't it above Season 7, that monstrosity?

Really good actually. I don't get why people hate on this one.

13 Season 13

This season just started not long ago, and I just gotta say, it's gotten off to a really great start.

14 Season 14
BAdd New Item